Thinking Things Through
by I Double Dare You
Summary: 'Of all the things that may have been said by Sirius Black, this was not one of them.' Sirius has a habit of not thinking things through. All in all, it's not that surprising when his proposal doesn't go quite according to plan. Sirius/Remus Post-Hogwarts
1. Thinking Things Through Is Overrated

Title: Thinking Things Through

Pairing: Sirius/Remus

Summary: 'Of all the things that may have been said by one Sirius Black, this was not one of them.' Sirius has a habit of not thinking things through. All in all, it's not that surprising when his proposal doesn't go quite according to plan.

Era: Post-Hogwarts

Rating: (SUBJECT TO CHANGE) For now, not M. First fan fic I've ever written that does not include explicit slash. Sorry, smut chasers but this one simply didn't call for it ;) I suppose I could have done sex on a roof, but ah well :P

Warnings: Slash, Sirius/Remus, perhaps some fluff.

Notes: Before you get the wrong idea, this is not all gooey, gooey, mushy mush love, ok? I tried to keep it cute but somewhat realistic, so don't be put off by the idea of a proposal. :/ And don't be disappointed by the general lack of "Oh, Sirius, our wedding day is going to be so perfect. I love you sooooo much", crying everywhere, and "Oh, Remus, I love you, I've always loved you and always will and oh baby, I just want to shag you to death". I like meh fluff, but I like it in moderation XP So I tried to keep the humour going through it and tried my darnest to keep the characters in character. Oh, and try to read past the first sentence ;) Let me know how it went, I'm afraid of the fluff monsters attacking me while I'm writing and shitting all over my story. :/ _Hate when that happens._

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**Chapter 1: Thinking Things Through Is Overrated.**

"We should get married".

Of all the things that may have been said by one Sirius Black, this was not one of them. So Remus assumed he hadn't heard correctly.

"What was that?", he asked distractedly as a waitress accidentally sloshed some Butterbeer onto his shoe as she walked by.

"Married, Moony. We should get married".

Finally accepting that he had heard correctly but concluding instead that he had misunderstood the meaning, Remus looked at Sirius and raised his eyebrow.

"Well, what do you say?", Sirius pressed, grey eyes searching Remus' face for something that simply wasn't there. Instead of joy he found annoyance and confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

Remus was distracted from the distraught look on Sirius' face by James leaning over to hiss loudly at Sirius, "Idiot, you're supposed to do it on one knee".

"And you're supposed to have a ring", Lily interjected, frowning disapprovingly at Sirius' apparent lack of jewelery.

Perplexed, Remus watched as Sirius snarled something at James and shoved him back into his own seat.

Here he was, trying to enjoy an evening out at the pub with his best friends, and Sirius Black decided that it would be the perfect time for a prank. Idiot. It was a shame that he loved said idiot or he would have kicked him in the shins by now. In fact, he did it anyway. It had the desired effect. Sirius yelped and turned his attention back to Remus.

"Now what are you on about this time? And this better not be as ridiculous as your last prank".

It had taken _days_ for Remus to figure out how to get the bubbles in the bath to stop whistling at him and singing loud, bawdy songs about various parts of his anatomy.

"It's not ridiculous", Sirius protested, most affronted by this most heinous of accusations. That was what the haughty posture said anyway.

"I'm talking about marriage, Moony. You know, you and me, a wedding and rings and a white dress, except we don't have to have the white dress unless you really want to wear one".

There was an exasperated sigh from Remus' right (Lily) and a muffled murmur of "Oh, dear Godric's golden knickers", from Sirius' right (James), and perplexed silence from Remus' left (Peter).

Then something began to dawn on Remus. If this was part of some prank then James wouldn't have his head in his hands, looking as if he wanted to shake sense into someone and Lily would look most disapproving, which would be slightly ruined by a reluctant smirk. And Peter would be snickering most unsubtly. This didn't appear to be a prank.

Remus took another look at the uncharacteristically anxious face of his boyfriend. _Marriage?_ His jaw gaped most unattractively.

"You mean you want to get married? To me?", he asked stupidly, his mind a complete blank. Calm before the storm probably.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you for the past five minutes. And people say you're the clever one", Sirius rolled his eyes affectionately and lounged back against his chair across from Remus, apparently pleased that he'd got his message across.

Their table was silent for a moment as everyone stared intently at Remus, waiting for his response.

"Are you mad?"

Sirius frowned. That was not the response he'd been hoping for. He'd been hoping for a 'yes', or something along those lines, rather than a questioning of his sanity.

"You want to get married to _me_?", Remus hissed at him, anger flaring in his eyes, "You know what I am and you ask me to _marry_ you?"

Perplexed by whether or not to answer when all the questions seemed rhetorical, Sirius let out a small, confused, "Wha...?"

This was not the correct response.

Remus leaned across the table, uncharacteristic sneer on his face as he whispered quietly so no one in the pub would hear but their table, "You're asking a werewolf to marry you. Are you asking for an early death?"

Sirius made to say something that would undoubtedly make Remus even angrier so it might have been considered lucky that Remus interrupted him.

"Marriage to a werewolf is for life. Literally. You're bound mind and soul to that person for the rest of your life. 'Until death do us part' is taken further in werewolf marriage. When one dies, the other dies – literally. You breathe your last breath at the same time, regardless of whether you want to or not".

Sirius stared at the angry werewolf across from him in surprise. He'd read something along those lines in books before (really, the only books he'd ever taken seriously in school were ones on werewolves) but he'd never quite focused on the parts on werewolf marriage and thought most of it metaphorical anyway. Apparently he'd been wrong.

However, he didn't quite know what to say to make the angry, questioning Remus go away and the humorous, thoughtful Remus come back. So he continued to gape at him stupidly. Again, he could have responded better.

Remus stood abruptly, giving Peter a glare to indicate that he should get out of his way. A moment later and Peter had scuttled from the chair to give the furious werewolf a wide berth. You had to be good at duck-and-run when Remus got like this.

Remus gave Sirius one last glare as he declared calmly but coldly, "And by the way, the answer is _no_, in case you hadn't guessed". He swept past their table with a quiet mutter of, "Sorry, have to go", presumably to Lily, James and Peter before he stalked out of the pub.

Sirius stared at the spot where Remus had sat.

_Well that could have gone better._

He was still staring at the same spot when he felt James pat him consolingly on the back.

"_Sirius Black's marriage proposal rejected_ – never thought I'd live to see the day".

He coughed and offered some more consoling words when he saw the glare Lily shot him, "He probably just needs some time to think things over. I mean, you gotta give a guy some warning".

"He's right", Lily added, leaning over to place her hand on top of Sirius', "You know how Remus is; he doesn't like to just jump into things like you do. He needs time to think things through before he can make a decision".

"But I asked him to marry me", Sirius exclaimed in apparent bewilderment, "Why should he have to think about that?"

"Well", Lily said, the start of a smile forming on her face, "Have you thought that maybe this wasn't the time, place or situation for a marriage proposal?"

"And besides", James agreed, nodding, "What about all that stuff he said about werewolves and marriage. None of us really ever thought about that stuff before. He's thinking he's just looking out for you, mate".

Sirius pondered on the things Remus had said for a minute. It did seem like Remus was just angry that he hadn't thought it through properly and that he hadn't been aware of the dangers. Sirius snorted quietly. _How like Remus_.

James then said, "Go talk to him", just as Lily said, "Give him some space".

They glared at each other. Well, Lily did most of the glaring. For James it was more of a sheepish, apologetic look. _Merlin, Lily needed to give James back his balls one day_, Sirius thought vaguely.

"If you give him too much time to think it over he'll think too hard and come to some ridiculous conclusion and lock himself away somewhere".

Lily frowned.

"But if you go running right after him, he'll still think you've not given any thought to this and his answer will be the same".

Sirius' head hit the table.

"What horrors have I brought upon myself?", he cried in muffled self pity.

"Do you still want to marry him after all that stuff about you both dying at the same time?"

The concerned voice this time was Peter's and Sirius glanced up at him. A different opinion to the bickering lovebird's might be good.

"Of course I do. As if I could live without the silly git", Sirius replied confidently, smiling affectionately at the thought of said silly git, "I used to be self-reliant, you know. Now I can't even sleep without him. Only makes sense for us to be married and even more for us to die at the same time".

His three friends looked at the stupid smile on his face and heard the affectionate tone in his voice, along with his ridiculous words. The only humane treatment for this incurable sickness was definitely a lifetime spent by the side of the one person who had caused it.

"Well, go tell him what you just told us, you disturbingly hairy bird".

Sirius shoved James affectionately, ruffling his already messy hair cruelly as he stood up and made for the door.

"Don't wait up, kids", he called back over his shoulder, still grinning stupidly as he ignored the curious and annoyed looks from the other people in the pub, "When you see me next I'll have a fiancé".

A couple of whistles and hoots from the pub patrons followed Sirius as he stepped out of the pub, but his three friends were silent.

They almost felt sorry for Remus. Being stuck with Sirius Black for the rest of your life...it was a harsh sentence. However, they also knew that he was one lucky bloke thanks to Sirius.

So it was a confused toast, "To poor, lucky Remus, for having to put up with that lovestruck sod for the rest of his life".

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

This story will be finished in one more chapter, which may even be uploaded tonight ;) Just a little fic that popped into my head and I just _had had __**had**_ to write. Change of plans though, there may or may not be smut, we'll see. Apparently I just can't help myself XD

Let me know what you think of it so far. Please? :)


	2. White Isn't My Colour

_Your wonderful reviews made my night. Literally squealed with joy I did. Caused mayhem with my pets._

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**Chapter 2: White Isn't My Colour**

Sirius burst into the small flat, unintentionally smacking the door against the wall and sending a flake of paint to the floor in his haste. Paint aside, Sirius ignored it and closed the door behind him.

"Moony, I need to talk to you".

No answer. Sirius frowned. He poked his head into the lounge room where Remus should have been nestled in his chair reading a decidedly boring book with his curiously endless supply of chocolate and tea at his elbow. No Remus. And no tea either. Their flat always smelled like tea as Remus was constantly drinking the stuff. Sirius was a coffee man himself but he preferred the smell of tea as it reminded him of Remus and coming home to him in the evenings.

Still frowning, Sirius made his way over to the kitchen to discover that there was indeed no fresh tea made. So either Remus wasn't home or he was truly bothered by Sirius' proposal, enough to forgo one of his compulsive rituals. Sirius continued to search the rest of the house, nosing his way around their bedroom, glancing around the bathroom, checking the laundry, all the while calling out variations of, "Moony, get your gorgeous arse over here. I need to talk to you about me being a prat".

Just as Sirius was thinking that maybe Remus wasn't home after all, the idea hit him.

It was cold up on the roof, although there was only a light breeze. Sirius clambered up onto the roof tiles, quite adept at the maneuver after the countless times he'd done it before. Indeed it had been he who had introduced Remus to the roof in the first place.

Panting slightly, Sirius finally found the object of his affections and obsessions, sitting elbows on his bent knees, looking down at his clasped hands between them. Sirius climbed over to him and collapsed down next to Remus, resting back on his hands with his knees bent in front of him. Remus didn't look at him. Not knowing quite how to start a conversation like this (the way his previous proposal had been received had made that clear), he barreled on like he usually did.

"So, why'd you run out on me?"

Sirius watched a frown crease Remus' brow as he replied evenly, "I thought I made that clear, Sirius. We both need time to think about things, you especially".

"What's there to think about?"

Sirius knew he wasn't saying the right things, judging by the way the crease in Remus' forehead was deepening, but that had never quite been a problem with Remus before. Remus had always understood and put up with his personality. As James had once wisely said, Sirius was never going to find another person who could ever put up with him like Remus could. Sirius took this to mean that Remus was a keeper. And he couldn't help but agree.

"There's plenty to think about, though lately that's something that you don't seem fond of doing".

_Ouch_, so he was in a snarky mood now, was he? That was okay; as much as Remus was able to put up with Sirius, Sirius was able to put up with him.

"Alright, I don't think enough. Go on".

Remus finally looked at him.

"What?"

"Go on. I want to find out why you don't want to marry me. I'll find out then I'll fix it. We've established that I'm not big on the thinking things through: reason number one. Keep going, we both know there's plenty more".

"That's not what I was saying", Remus exclaimed, exasperated, "And I distinctly remember telling you why I don't want...marriage. In front of our best friends too".

Remus said the last with a hint of shame and Sirius felt a rare stab of guilt for making Remus so uncomfortable. He knew how private Remus could sometimes be and he'd gone and proposed to him in the middle of a pub, in front of their friends without ever thinking how that might have made him feel or react. He really _didn't_ think things through.

"Right, you mean all that stuff about werewolf marriage", Sirius sighed, waving his hand dismissively, "I can't believe that I actually have to explain this to you but when I proposed marriage I was actually planning on staying married until we die anyway. You know, growing old together and all that stuff that Lily and James harp on about. I don't need some magical bond to make me do that. So it really makes hardly any difference".

Remus stared at him hard.

"It makes all the difference, Sirius. If we got married now and next week I died fighting death eaters, you would die too. No matter where you were, what you were doing, how you were feeling, you would _**die**_".

"And you thought that I'd ever actually live without you?".

Remus gaped at him and Sirius turned away, trying to ignore the uncomfortable embarrassment making his skin crawl. He hadn't meant it to sound so sappy but it was true. He couldn't imagine life without the werewolf next to him, he didn't want to imagine it and he certainly would never live it. Whatever it took, he wouldn't live without him. Then a thought struck him. An unpleasant one. What if the real reason Remus didn't want to get married was because _he_ didn't want to die when Sirius did? Maybe he wanted to go on living even after Sirius had died. Understandable but still...disheartening. Did Remus not need him as much as he needed Remus?

"Is it because...you don't want to die too soon?", Sirius asked hesitatingly.

"No!", Sirius stared in surprise at the immediate reply and the blush crawling over Remus' cheeks, "It's not that...it's just that I don't want to be responsible for your death".

Sirius snorted, "You wouldn't be responsible for it and I'd rather it this way, okay?", he caught Remus' gaze earnestly, "This is the way I want it to be. For as long as we live".

Sirius could see the resolve crumbling in Remus' eyes and he knew he had won. Smiling, he leaned over and wrapped his arm around Remus' back, pulling him close as he muttered, "You know if you really want me to do the whole surprise, romantic, down on one knee thing and _ta-da_ – ring, I will".

Remus laughed and Sirius smiled against his temple.

"That would be quite amusing, but no, no more public proposals", Remus ordered, mock sternly.

"And what about private ones?"

"Private ones are open to criticism", Remus smirked.

Sirius groaned, "How am I going to be tied to you for the rest of my life when I know I'll lose every argument?"

"Tied to me?", Remus quipped, arching an elegant eyebrow, "You make me sound like a ball and chain".

"It's marriage, that's the general idea", Sirius joked, laughing when Remus turned his head and raised both eyebrows threateningly at him.

"So, is that a yes, Moony? You have to say it, you know, that you're going to marry me, so you can't sneak off and start shagging other far more upstanding and richer blokes than me because we don't have an official thing going on".

Remus chuckled, leaning back into Sirius' half-embrace to escape the cool breeze.

"Yes, Sirius Black, I'll marry you", then as an after thought, he added, "though only if you wear a white dress on our wedding day".

Sirius gaped in mock shock.

"A white dress, Moony? _A white dress_? You know white isn't my colour".

Remus laughed again and Merlin's beard, Sirius would never tire of making him laugh.

"Well, white is the colour of virgins after all. I need to know I'm not marrying some despoiled little slag", Remus teased, turning to leisurely kiss the side of Sirius' neck.

"Really? But don't you want to despoil your little slag right now?", Sirius smirked, his skin tingling where Remus had kissed his neck and where his hand was now stroking over his stomach.

Remus hummed against Sirius' throat as he apparently thought deeply about Sirius'...proposal. He smirked at the pun before replying, "I suppose I could. We'd give the neighbours a right shock if I did though".

"I didn't mean _on the roof,_ Moony. Godric's balls, never knew I was marrying such a pervert".

"Liar, it's _why_ you're marrying me", Remus smirked, pressing closer against the warmth as he wrapped an arm around Sirius' waist.

Sirius finally conceded defeat and agreed. As if he could ever win an argument against Remus. But that was something he was willing to spend the rest of his life trying to disprove, no matter how futile a goal it was. And, excited about spending the rest of their lives together, they _did_ end up giving the neighbours quite a shock after all.

OOOOOOOOOOO

The ending is a bit abrupt but these two could keep talking all day. Like a couple of old women they are. Except...no...because I never want to imagine old women talking about and doing the things that these two do O.o

Right, now I've disturbed myself, let me know what you think of my fic. :)

Comments are loved. This is my first non-M fic, so I'm nervous. Kind of missing it, actually. Don't know if I should actually add the smut or if I should leave it like this. Also, if I think up a good sequel I might do it. Wedding night, perhaps? Reader's thoughts are always helpful ;) Again, comments would be great!

Thanks for reading!


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